Farewell to Summer

It's been cold and rainy here for the past couple of days. Scott and I spent last weekend in Durban, South Africa, where it was warm and sunny, but when we returned it seemed as if the seasons had definitively changed. The seasons here are the opposite of those in the U.S., so we are well into fall here. I didn't expect it to get quite as cool as it has (in the upper 50's F right now), and I miss the warm weather already. We live on a high, windy plateau, and everyone tells us it will get even cooler over the coming months. Before summer becomes too distant a memory, here are some photos from around the farm where we live taken this summer.

Scott on the road leading from town to Mabuda Farm.

More of the 1 km road leading to the farm. You can see some of the farm's vast cornfields to the left.

Walkway leading down to our house on right.

Scott standing in front of our house. Kitchen windows to right, living room/Scott's room in middle, and bedroom/my room (w/chimney) to left.

A view of one of the farm's pastures taken on one of our evening walks. The farm is huge -- about 10,000 acres -- and we still haven't explored all of it.

One of the grass pastures where the farm's dairy cattle graze. The old bathtub is used as a trough.

A view of the main house, where our landlords, Dr. & Mrs. Pons, live. In the foreground is one of the two dairies on the farm. You can also see some of the Pons's horses grazing in the field in front of their house.

Another view of the main house. We live several hundred yards distant in the farm's old "lodge."

Me on one of the dirt roads on the farm.

Scott in one of the pastures they started harvesting for hay back in late January (mid-summer here).

Another evening view of same pasture.

Karen Wong and I at the farm's lily pond, which also serves as a source of drinking water for the farm.

Scott on the way home from an evening walk, gorgeous African sunset in background.

Scott and I walking through some cornfields ready for harvest. Much of the corn is used to make corn meal, so they leave it on the stalks to dry completely before harvesting and grinding.

It feels odd to be heading into winter as everyone at home heads into summer -- another mark of the great physical distance between us. Remember us as we settle into the winter months here!